I love it when someone asks what I've been dying to answer. Bravo, JG! She wants to know if we can "claim" Jeremiah 29:11. The verse says: "'For I know the plans I have for you,' declares the Lord, 'plans for welfare and not for calamity to give you a future and a hope.'" Is God promising you and me, today, in this verse, to insulate us from calamity? Is He declaring in Jeremiah 29:11 that only what promotes our welfare lies ahead?
It all depends on what the meaning of "you" is. (Where have I heard something like that before?) Since the Bible was written for our benefit, it's natural to understand "you" to mean "us" - If "you" includes us, then surely we can claim this promise. But if "you" does not, then what?
This is a really good question with far-reaching implications. It is not just about this often quoted promise but the methodology by which we interpret and apply passages from the Bible. So, I would like to provide an answer that is bigger than the question.
The first thing we need to do is understand something of the process by which our lives are transformed by the truth. I call it "the growth chain." I have put together a chart to the left that I hope you will find helpful. I have also prepared a PDF file of the "growth chain" that you can download if you want a hard copy.
The first six elements of the growth chain we often take for granted. 1) God spoke to men in the past. For example, He spoke to Moses from a burning bush. 2) We wouldn't know what God said, had not Moses and other writers recorded the message. 3) Neither would we have access to this message had not men made copies of the writer's originals, 4) copies that were assembled into collections called the Old and New Testaments. 5) The original text has been preserved in these copies and 6) can be identified by evaluating variances among manuscripts.
The next three steps are where most of us jump in. 7) At step seven, "interpretation," we seek the intended meaning for the original text. The term "hermeneutics" is associated with this process of determining what the human author sought to communicate to his original audience. 8) The next step, "application," asks the question, "What are the ways in which the message to the original audience has implications for those who are outside that circle?" 9) To complete the growth chain, it remains for us to act on the application, to translate the application into changes in how we think, what we say, and what we do?
I realize that this is an extremely compressed summary. (I went to four years of graduate school to unpack this little chart!) But the key insight you need to take away is this: You should not attempt to apply a passage until you first interpret that passage. So, our first assignment in Jeremiah 29:11 is to determine exactly what Jeremiah was communicating to his original audience - let's do the work of interpretation. THEN, we'll ask about how this message has implications for US.
I will tell you straight out that it drives me a little crazy when the above sequence is violated. You CANNOT apply what you have not first interpreted. So let's see if we can't avoid some craziness and do it right! We'll pick this up again later next week starting with interpretation.
Bah! The dreaded tease....
Posted by: Jeff | October 26, 2007 at 08:58 AM
Thanks for the long answer, even though it's coming in installments. I like having the tools, and the background that lays the foundation for answers. This chart is so clear and helpful; wouldn't it be great if hermeneutics was a part of the normal Christian's frame of reference? What's so great about the chart is that it shows the goal--transformation! Thanks!
Posted by: CF | October 26, 2007 at 11:11 AM
Hermeneutics! Most excellent, this is easily my favorite class!!
Just in passing to CF, one of the things to keep in mind is that most of the Bible is written to be read in the same way we would read any other writing of the same genre (narrative or a letter, etc), with the possible exception of apocalyptic prophecies (though there are some examples of those in other literatures). Yes, the Bible is divine, which has definite implications for its content and application. But as far as its meaning, its very literary and we should read it like we would read anything else. So in a way, hermeneutics should be a part of our natural frame of reference.
Posted by: Alex Marshall | October 26, 2007 at 12:47 PM
Alex,
I'm with you on that. I've taken hermeneutics in Bible college as well. I understand all about genres, and literary devices, etc. My point was, however, that having an appreciation for bibilical hermeneutics and a grammatical, historical, literal frame of reference for interpretation doesn't seem to be the norm. I'm glad for you that it represents your norm. Truth has fallen on hard times. Once you get out of the Bible college milieu, most folks, even most Christians will say Herman who?
Posted by: CF | October 29, 2007 at 07:56 PM